"Without support and funding from Harvest, we would be unable to develop, promote and sustain initiatives to address health issues and work toward a healthier future for Martinsville and Henry County. "

NEWSROOM

The New College Institute is expanding the pool of potential applicants for its annual internship program.

For the sixth straight year, NCI will sponsor a summer internship program for college students. The program, which previously has been open only to residents of Martinsville, Henry County, Patrick County, Pittsylvania County and Danville, this year also will accept applications from nonlocal residents enrolled in one of NCI’s partner institutions: Virginia State University, Virginia Commonwealth University and Radford University, according to a news release.

Guidelines and expectations for nonlocal applicants will be the same as those for local residents, the release said.

Funded by the New College Foundation and the Harvest Foundation, the internship program is designed to provide paid, hands-on work experience to students and to show them that potential career opportunities are available in Henry County and Martinsville.

Internships will take place between May 1 and Sept. 15, and interns will earn up to $4,000 during the course of their internships. Employers are expected to pay $1,000 of that amount toward the salary of a first-time intern and $2,000 if their intern is returning from last year’s internship program.

The New College Foundation and the Harvest Foundation will provide the rest of each intern’s earnings, the release said.

All of those who apply must be enrolled in college and will need to work with a local employer from Martinsville, Henry County or Patrick County on a prospective internship.

Students and local employers interested in applying can access the NCI Summer Internship Program Application Guidelines at www.newcollegeinstitute.org. Guidelines can be found online within the tab labeled “Community Outreach” and then within the link “Internship Opportunities.”

NCI will maintain an ongoing list of potential internship opportunities collected from local employers on its website. However, the list is not comprehensive, the release said.

Students are encouraged to seek new and additional internship sites within Martinsville, Henry County or Patrick County that match their education, personal job interests and skills, the release said.

Whether a student seeks an internship through NCI’s list of potential internship opportunities or by different means, all students who want to apply must arrange their own internship with local businesses or organizations, the release said. The student and employer should jointly apply and then submit all application materials to NCI no later than Feb. 3.

Shannon Clark of Piedmont Community Services (PCS) had an opportunity to host an intern in her department, Community Support Services, last summer.

“NCI offers students a local opportunity to experience work in the field of study that interests them,” Clark said in the release. “I and PCS were glad to have this experience this summer. We look forward to next summer to hopefully have yet another opportunity to influence and encourage another young person desiring to work within this field. We had such a great experience. In fact, I recently got a visit from our NCI summer intern. She shared with me that she was able to use her NCI Internship experience for college credit because of the extensive experience that she gained during her internship with us at PCS; this was because she had been able to work in such a broad spectrum of experiences through the Community Support Services at PCS.”

In addition to earning money and gaining hands-on work experience, interns will be able to participate in social networking and professional development opportunities throughout the summer. Interns also will have the opportunity to give back to the community through volunteer work and service learning, the release said.

Katie Croft, internship program coordinator, encouraged students to apply.

“The guidelines and application process for this program can seem intimidating to those wanting to apply. However, NCI has had a lot of positive feedback about this process so we have not had much of a need to make any drastic changes to this process,” she said in the release. “Still NCI desires to ensure that all individuals who may be interested in applying have a fair opportunity to make this process understandable. For this reason NCI is happy to supply an information session for students and employers that wish to apply.”

NCI will host the Internship Program Information Session from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 15, at the NCI King Building in uptown Martinsville. It is open to interested students and employers.

By March 5, NCI will inform students and partnering employers whose internships are approved. Funding is available only for 25 to 30 interns.

In previous years, there have been private donors and local businesses that have fully funded their interns’ salaries, the release said.

Croft said NCI expects a large pool of applicants this year.

“Feedback from employers and interns has grown to become overwhelmingly positive, and we are anticipating having an even larger number of applicants this year for the 2012 internship season,” she said. “It should be noted that the application pool is very competitive. I say this not to discourage anyone from applying but just to make individuals aware that this program is becoming more well-known throughout the community as a really great opportunity for college students as well as local employers, and at this time funding is limited to a certain amount of interns each summer.”

For more information about the internship program or the information session, call Croft at 403-5609 or email her at kcroft@newcollegeinstitute.org.